Brush and brush material



Sept 9, 1952 R. o. PETERSON 2,609,642

BRUSH AND BRUSH MATERIAL Filed July 14, 1947 v 2 SHEETS--SHEET l INVENTOR. :ELC-2v- 7 RUBEN OPETERSON Bmfw QW ATTORNEYS Sept. 9, 1952 R 0, PETERSQN 2,609,642

BRUSH AND BRUSH MATERIAL Filed July 14, 1947 2 SHEETS-Sl-{EET 2 `VIC E 9 AL@ INVENTOR.

RUBENv O. PETERSON @JWM FITTO T2. NEB/.

Patented Sept. 9, 1952 BRUSH AND BRUSHIMATEBIAL UNITED STATES PATE-NT Y oFFlcEj-j c `Ruben 0. Peterson, University Heights, Ohio, as-

signor to The Osborn Manufacturing Company, Cleveland, 0hio, a corporation of Ohio vsp,picante July 14. 1947. serial No. 760,841v

-12 claims.. (015514190) Tltlsinvention relates, as indicated, to brushes and brush material, and more particularly to brush material designed for very hard usage.

Brushes,v and especially rotary brushes, have long been employed to apply abrasive and polishing materials to clean, smooth and polish metallic surfaces and the like. Cotton bufng Wheels and Tampico nbre brushes, for example, are Commonly employed for thisV purpose but are far from being entirely satisfactory. They not only wear more rapidly in use than is desirable but also waste an unnecessarily large proportion of the abrasive material supplied to them. There is Va tendency for these brushes when rotated at high speeds to overheat with resultant .burning 'of` the brushing material and such tendency is accentuated by the presence of abrasives between the strands. Due to uneven application of the abrasive, work is done at an uneven rate, and the excessive amountof lint cast on by the ordinary buff or string brush is a fire hazard.

Other causes tending to shorten the lives of such brushes include cutting of brush iibres by abrasive and the work-piece when excessive pressure. vis used in an eifort to compensate for ineffective application of abrasive, and the action thereon of acids orfalkalis encountered under certain working conditions.

It is, therefore, a primary object of this invention to provide brushes and brushing material metallic surfaces and the like and which willalso have a greatly increased useful life. f

A further object is to provide such material and brushes comprising the same Awhich will be resistant to the action of acids and/orA alkalis.

Still another object is to provide brushing Inaterial which kwill carry and apply abrasive or polishing materials with a minimum of Waste.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, said invention, then, consists of the'means hereinafter fullydescribed and particularly pointed out in the claims.

The annexed drawing and the following description set forth'in detail certain. structure embodying the invention, such disclosed means confstitu'ting, however, but one of various structural fp rms in which the principle of the invention may bcfusedr 1n' said annexed' drawing.: Fig. 1 isa side 'elevational viewy `partly cut away, of a :rptaryjbrush sectijoriemploying brush material in accordance with my invention;

'A f Fig. 2 is an enlarged'viewof 'one type of material treatedin accordance with my inventorii' 3,0 Awhichwill be effective to clean, scourV andl polish .native form of brushing material;

2 Fig.3 isa view of similar materialV illustrating one manner in which the same may be render-'ed acid and alkali proof;

Fig. 4 is a, sectional view of the material of Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken through a rotary brush section as illustrated in Fig. y1;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view of a brush section illustrating an embodiment employing an alter- Fig. 7 is a viewof the braided strip or tape employed as brushing material in the brush of Fig. 6; l i.

Fig. 8 shows a sheet of plastic` in .which abrasive is embedded from which stranded'brush material may be produced in accordance with my invention;

Fig.,9 shows a brush strand produced from the sheet ofFig.8;- Fig. 10 is an enlarged sectional View .taken on Fig. 11 shows astrip of sheet material such as paper or fabric to which abrasive particles. have been adhered except for `a ,portionY of.one side, and from which stranded brush' material may be produced; ,1:

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary View. cfa ,composite strand of brush 4material. comprising andnner v,core of ne iilaments' and an outer sheath; `and 'Figi 13 is aside view, on a reduced 'scaleifof the elte loi'lish 0i which a portion isy shown in rig. 1.

In one embodiment of invention ll'. jemploy y ."a bradof tightly tvl'isted Strands Suchl as braided tire cord or cable-'CordPsince the tightly twisted strandsd'o not'4 unravel in use with'nearlyfthe rapidity offloosely 'twisted strands and also, when braided, and treated as explained below ,are relativ'elystii enabling. the brush t0 retain its form much better than when limper sorts of cordage and the like arey employed. Referring now more particularly to the drawing, a brush formed; in

' or like material.

^ "Puoi-lim." 'tire cord, for example, is illustrated in Fig. 3 Where a narrow strip 3 of Plioiilm is wrapped 3 described in my Patent No. 2,303,386, dated December 1, 1942. Brushes similar to those described in my prior Patents Nos. 2,409,309; 2,345,422; 2,320,384; 2,316,185, and Whittle Patent No. 2,288,337 are especially adaptable for use with the brush material herein specified.

A further advantage of the braided material resides in its tendency to form excellent abrasive carrying tufts 5 making an ideal surface to the finished brush. This is particularly striking when compared to Tampico fibre brushes now generally employed which permit powdered abrasive to filter down between the fibres in addition to dropping a good deal of it, rather than holding itin Working position. It has been found possible economically to remove marks from steel surfaces by employing brushes made in accordance with my invention Where such was not previously feasible.

'I'hematerial of this invention may also be stiifened by impregnating with a hardening and stiffening agent such as glue E (see Figs. 2 and 4) which will desirably be set and vtoughened bysubsequent treatment with an agent such as formaldehyde and, optionally, a solution of sodium silicate (waterglass). Such agent penetrates between and thoroughly Wets the libres in addition to coating the surface of the cord The resultant product svery hard and tough, relatively Waterproof, and is capable` of considerable abrasive action of its ployed as a stiifening agent. The above treat- 'ment not only produces a hard tough brushing material but also aids in preventing Yunravelling ofthe strands. Instead of braided cord of the generally circular form illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, nat braided strips 1 of fabric, as .shown in Fig. 7, may be treated in a similar manner and employed as shown in Fig. 6. The

term cord as employed herein and in the Aclaims is to be understood as including both such forms of brushing material. Other embodiments of the invention are obvious to those skilled inthe art. When the fabric is to be impregnated with the 'stiffening agent, 'it is generally not necessary to employ hard braided material and a relatively soft braid is entirely satisfactory and sometimes preferable. V

The material of this invention may be further treated, if desired, to Y render the same water, acid and alkali proof. This may be done by coating the cord or other material with a thin iilm of certain synthetic plastics, such as One method of thus coating braided in slightly overlapping spirals about the cord. Heat and pressure are then applied to weld the strip into a continuous impervious coating. Ob-

In each of the above-described forms of my improved stranded brush material it will be noted that the individual strands comprise smaller strands or fibers assembled in general criss-cross relation, specifically to form a braided cord in counterdistin-ction to twisted and other types of cord in which the fibers are arranged in general parallel relation. As is well known, the latter types of cord are structurally the stronger since the slippage betWeen-theindividual fibers permits an adjustment to allow the aggregate strength of the fibers to resist a given stress. However, what has not been heretofore recognized in attempting to use such cord as brush material where the component strands are subjected to severe flexing as well as terminal and side wearing action when in use, is that when the cord is treated with a material of low limit of resilience such as a plasticized glue compound, this adjustability is reduced or eliminated. In other words, the impregnated and stiiiened cord is only asstrong as the impregnating material plus the strength of the few fibers that happen to be in a position to function when a stress is applied. The foregoing explanation, itis believed,` accounts for the fact that cords treated in the manner described are weaker than the untreated cord, unless the latter be held under tension while being treated. It is for this reason that for some uses it has been found desirable to hold the cord under tension While being treated with a binding material so as to add the strength of the latter to that of the aggregate strength of the vfibers (Cf. Pat. No. 2,220,958 to Jennings).

In counterdistinction to the foregoing, the present invention is Ybased on the discovery that increased tensile strength is notV the only requisite in brush material made from cord, but that it is very important that such material be capable of withstanding the Wear, and particularly the beating and flexing, that it will encounter when made into a brush. Actually such cord will stand up better if the outer fibers composingvth'e same are not undertension but-,somewhat loosely looped so that flexing will not over-strain them. For this reason, a braided cord, for example, while not a good construction for attaining maximum tensile strength, has been found highly satisfactory for the purpose in hand, in that it has an open structure, is very well suited to .withstand flexing after the described treatment and has greater non-ravelling characteristics than a twisted cord. Furthermore, since the component strands or fibers of such braided cord lie Yat angles to each other, i. e. in'general' criss-cross relation, rather than in general parallel relation, the cord is provided with uniformly distributed pocket-like interstices which receive and retain ,an adequate amount of the treating material.

messy and wasteful, and does not provide a uniform concentration of abrasive at the work-piece.

'Loose abrasive particles. between the strands of the brush material and abrasivevvhich isA super- `iicially exposed on the lateral surfaces cause the generation of excessive heat and cutting of such o Y, ,1.1 e'sfuiiy" edited. thigpetli; l If'bif actual testaby trvidefstranded brushing material' having a relatively srnooighY eX- e g. .1.2 SuchA Sheath-rmay be. adheredlgtfi' theiadhesiyefimpregnating the twisted'strand if uch ,adhsiveihas 210th??? erelyadri'edg., A

Wise treated to k-eep'it inpositi-on. ,The ofnelarnents,formed at theendof the "and provides@ excellent poliheandfi@ e feige tn the' brush-t, I. haveifgund thatthe nrated bythe intertpnnf the'bruhme, pff jabrasve I may `beembedv rial may thus be greatlyrieducedzand one: "Orsuchnarticles may beceinentedingplace either foundk a reduetionto aboit DDQ-Qi'ghelih-that nsofwana-dhe o 'orby use oi alittle developed when the ycompositie lainentsnwere s'ohs'entV effectiveto render thegurfaoeof'th sheet about V one two hundredths the darrletei",ofl my .gummy andwhichr .thei evaporates. Indwhat- 30 new materi-al. n A Yever ina-nn rithfe' abrasive prtilesare embedded Eibrous material such` as Amerian hem o h ld 4eytiailliii effeot be "In o 'nted onthe example, may be passed through `axsl'urryof ifs *ceAr heregthey,are nabledgtoeieft full tsive While inl sliverl forman-d then'v twisted ting 'act1oriL..The 1s'tip Svyili thenerolledor Vabrasive-containing strands. Such yVs'ti'ads-,Will 'tWStedeaS ASlW'I"l' FSJQ QrIIl' uSeflll 35 13h-ieri` be, gyen buter Qating: asffgf liquid ,Sh o 1 Ol `OSltftl'l Y flybe Carnylon or wax, and 'are readyitoob'elncorpor ted 1f 4' nliCmS'i1 1i1 Ssy .employ a into a. rotary. brush.4 This surfaclcatingingeflong trip of .plashafana the rsliltt S'bra''d @feci encjases thepoinposite Strand aridmiri jizes ijir'litolllA iredlengths'i- En). abrasive cuttiiig. action between the, strands Asshown in Fig. l0, the 'particlesof abras'iye 4U ,jihe'miselyes Chlofsnapmh Denis', gn :projectmto the ,interstcesbetwnthe ,ofawaxnke coating.matehaiwnichis 'Oltiiis 'of th t'vl'ed. S'fQUWher-e -thylwll vbe for thus coating the strands of 'brushes designed BX' "Sedt'fth ldS-OHSHS ,'l GTGVS forcer-tain uses.` i j aeticin Theoverlappi'rigfseams .H ,niay A great advantage of this ltype of.. e, #treated-.t0 Weld the., 'Same 01 .cemented ig,- .thar short rand therefore .ehem bersmay be treatment With solvent Or, adhesiva: thereby employed which are not -otherv'irise usefuls'dince fp Odng a Smothsexterorsurfacelafordg,a :twisting ofthe iilamentsl together: `'providesl fa o of f riotio'nal .resistance to relativi/.8 strand of indefinite length -Yand the Asheath'of `Ill'l'lellfiytOf the Strands in the rapidly I'tatlfg piajstgor other `.coating lconfines:v*the*ber `rid brush.- v. Y y. A e v 50 preventsloosening thereof withresultant As shown inFig. 11, theirilasti'dstln'93,k instead tegration ofthe strand. Theibondingagentseh of.,having abrasivepartclesseeured to one` side asglueals-o assistsinsecuringthe berstgeth'r. .only-:mammie s'uli partities on :both sideevlex- In the past, 'bufng operationgs' have been. ,per` YScent, fireferahlyvfo Lanarea* I2 WhiqhxvWllolfm fjorinedkalmost entirelybylmeans ofrrbuisooniithe exterior surfabelf the-.strand Wherithestrp 55 ,poseuof, woven rabric, lSuchv buffs, however,

is', rlledras above. I lgthli it'y isv pSSbleat sufler from several serious*disadvantage Sin-oe greatlyincrease the abrasive content of the -nmore than fone-half. of the,-thre-a-ds.or.` fiber of fished. strand. ,4 .A the fab-rio arenon-fradiallydisposedrsuch threads erab'ly of.. Tsuperk-lkraftf .'strengthl Inayr be; .em- 60 jcornesrregularmuoh more rapidly than itatu bloyedfthe1 abrasiye-fparftiles beingvpemented ally wears laway. The layers of fabricvaiord-a thereto and the. strand vformed by twisting or solid-face 4which will not .conform-to a "slightly rolling. Such strand may be treated to secure uneyengsurfalce on the Workpieoeas dothe strands the same inY twisted condition as by means of A oiatrue brush. It will beA seent'hat my new adhesive or a Wax coating. Various fabrics such 65 brushingl material will surpass ther-.usualoloth aS Cbtthlth may be similarly/employe@ @are bu .in abrasive-holding'.ability,- in thefactionof should be taken that adhesives andthe like are of the ends; ofthe brushing strands in. conforming a type WhichlWllahaYe 1li-,ble @0.21110 (tendency t0 to thesurface, ofthe work-piecenandn-n provid- Smudge the Surface Ofi/he Work-piece .tgosbe i. ,ing firmly held neqlam-ents an abrasive a-t the nb ushe'd, and such smudgel as may be DTQdilCed 70 brush faoewhereits needed.` l`dbe easily removable by ordinary leaning Attemptslhavebeenmade lto megas brush ma; hoogst; g1 1- 1 terial flat strips of ernery cl othheld{Withrgthe 'It has been found th t Vfor 'nny purposes iiatfsurfaees :in:v the plane of the shaftwhenyrexfelaiely ,ff lf lamerlt 0,1f1i9521sv `PIQV.ide-1L much e tended fduringrotwtion olf a .brusmbutifthout more satistaotory brushing action than' bers of 75 much success for obvious reasons. 'The 'xos'ed AInstead of usingfa,strip firefv are easilynshed and the vbuff disintegratesand. be-

abrasive tends to cause development of excessive heat and promotes self-destruction of the mate'- I overcome these problems by forming the strips into strands with at least the major portion of the abrasive internally thereof. Such strands afford greater density of brush material at the brush face and avoid the difficulty of shedding threads which otherwise is so prevalent.

It will be seen that I have provided a new type of brush material and a new brush capable of greatly improved brushing action and a longer and more economical life. `Such brushes may be rotated at much greater speeds than ever before without danger of burning and with a much increased production of finished work-pieces. At the same time, such material and brushes may themselves be produced in large quantities and at littleexpense.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my co`pending application Serial No. 427,466, filed January 20, 1942, now abandoned in favor of ythis application.

Other modes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed, change being made as regards the details described, provided the features stated in any of the following claims or the equivalent of such be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my own invention:

l. As a new article of manufacture, brushing material of the character described comprising a flexible strand formed of twisted fabric sheet material having abrasive particles adheredthereto, said fabric sheet material being twisted to bring such adhered abrasive particles substantially entirely internally of said strand, and projecting into the interstitial openings thereof.

2. As a new article of manufacture,V brushing material of the character described comprising a flexible strand formed of twisted paper having abrasive particles adhered thereto, said paper being twisted to bring such adhered abrasive particles substantially entirely internally of said strand and projecting into the interstitial openings thereof.

3. As a new article of manufacture, brushing material of the character described comprising a strand formed of twisted plastic sheet material having abrasive particles embedded therein, said -sheet being twisted to bring such abrasive particles internally of said strand and projecting into the interstitial openings thereof and leaving a non-abrasive carrying surface of said sheet material exposed.

4. As a new article of manufacture, brushing material ofthe character described comprising a flexible strand formed of twisted sheet material having abrasive particles secured thereto, said sheet being twisted to bring such abrasive particles internally of said strand and to leave a nonabrasive-carrying surface of said sheet material exposed.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a rotary brush having a back and flexible stranded brushing material extendingtherefrom, such brushing material comprising strands formed of twisted web material having abrasive particles adhered thereto, said web material being twisted to bring such adhered abrasive particles substantially entirely internally of said strand and projecting into the interstitial openings thereof with a substantially non-abrasive-carrying surface of said lweb material left exposed.

6. As a new article of manufacture, a rotary brush having a back and flexible stranded brushing material extending therefrom, such brushing material comprising strands formed of paper having abrasive particles adhered thereto, said paper being deformed to bring such adhered abrasive particles substantially entirelyV internally of said strand and projecting into the interstitial openings thereof with a substantially nonabrasive-carryingsurface of said paper left exposed.

7. As a new article of manufacture, a rotary brush having a back and stranded brushingmaterial extending therefrom, such brushing material comprising individual flexible strands formed of plastic sheet material having abrasive particles embedded therein, said sheet being deformed to bring such abrasive particles internally of said strand and projecting into the interstitial openings thereof, said strand being secured in such deformed condition with a nonabrasive surface of said sheet material exposed to form the exterior of said strand.

8. As a new article of manufacture, a rotary brush having a back and flexible stranded brushing material extending therefrom, such brushing material comprising strands formed of sheet material having abrasive particles secured thereto, said sheet being deformed to bring such abrasive particles internally of said strand, with a substantially non-abrasive carrying surface of said sheet left exposed.

9. As a new article of manufacture, a rotary brush having stranded brushing material comprising strands formed of twisted sheet material. treated with a bonding agent effective to maintain such strand in twisted condition.

10. As a new article of manufacture, a rotary brush having stranded brushing material comprising strands formed of twisted sheet material, and abrasive adhered thereto, the major proportion of such abrasive being internally of said twisted strand.

ll. As a new article of manufacture, brushing material of the character described comprising a strand formed of twisted plastic sheet material having abrasive particles embedded therein, said sheet being twisted to bring such abrasive particles internally of said strand and projecting into the interstitial openings thereof, and said plastic being heat-sealed to secure the same in such twisted condition, with a non-abrasive surface of said sheet material exposed to form the exterior of said strand.

12. As a new article of manufacture, brushing material of `the character described comprising a strand formed of twisted plastic sheet material having abrasive particles embedded therein, said sheet being twisted to bring such abrasive particles internally of said strand and projecting into the interstitial openings thereof, and said plastic being cemented in such twisted condition, with a non-abrasive surface of said sheet material exposed to form the exterior of lsaid strand.

RUBEN O. PETERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNII ED STATES PA'I'EN'IS Number Name Date 328,004 Church Oct. 1.3, 1885 490,682 Roemer Jan. 31, 1893 963,523 Crismore July 5,1910

V(Other references on following page) l Number Radford sept. '1, 194s 10 Number Number Name Date Manchester Sept. 19, 1944 Rimer May 8, 1945 Field Nov. 12, 1946 Englund Dec. 31, 1946 Dronsfeld Aug. 26, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Dec. 20, 1923 

